fire, all made the scene more awful; and a wild thought came to me
that we had actually reached, while yet living, the infernal world,
and that this was the abode of devils. Yet their actions, it must be
confessed, were far from devilish. Everyone seemed eager to serve us.
Some spread out couches formed of the skins of birds for us to sit on;
others attended to the fire; others offered us gifts of large and
beautiful feathers, together with numerous trinkets of rare and
curious workmanship. This kind attention on their part was a great
puzzle to me, and I could not help suspecting that beneath all this
there must be some sinister design. Resolving to be prepared for the
worst, I quietly reloaded the empty barrel of my rifle and watched
with the utmost vigilance. As for Agnew, he took it all in the most
unsuspicious manner. He made signs to them, shook hands with them,
accepted their gifts, and even tried to do the agreeable to the
formidable hags and the child-fiends around him. He soon attracted the
chief attention, and while all looked admiringly upon him, I was left
to languish in comparative neglect.

At length a savory odor came through the cave, and a repast was spread
before us. It consisted of some large fowl that looked like a goose,
but was twice as large as the largest turkey that I had ever seen. The
taste was like that of a wild-goose, but rather fishy. Still to us it
seemed delicious, for our prolonged diet of raw seal had made us ready
to welcome any other food whatever; and this fowl, whatever it was,
would not have been unwelcome to any hungry man. It was evident that
these people lived on the flesh of birds of various sorts. All around
us we saw the skins of birds dried with the feathers on, and used for
clothing, for mats, and for ornaments.

The repast being finished, we both felt greatly strengthened and